Don't Breathe
by Sakut Uastk
Summary: Everyday, Dudley learnt something new about his friend. Yet he knew next to nothing about them. AU, Dudley-centric oneshot.


**THEN**

"I am a real person!"

"No you are not! You're just some silly old figment of my imagination! Daddy says so, and daddy knows everything!"

They stomped angrily on the branch they stood on, face flushed in anger and cheeks puffed out.

"Your daddy knows nuthin'!"

Dudley's eyes welled up with tears and his face scrunched up into an angered expression. He screamed at the other, fists clenched at his side. His nails cut deep into his soft flesh like butter.

"S-SHUT UP, Y-YOU'RE ALL IN MY HEAD! I DON'T WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH A FREAK LIKE YOU!" He cried.

They recoiled back, hissing painfully. A bruise blossomed across their cheek, painting their pale skin in yellows and purples. The _imaginary_ best friend stepped backward with a cry, shaking all the while. They fell off the branch suspended high in the air with a painful drop. But they had never hit the ground. The sound of bones breaking and blood gushing out overcame his senses anyways. Dudley ran out the forest, never looking back. Back to the house full of sickening sweet love and hidden cousins. Where he belonged and freaks were dealt with.

He hoped they never, ever returned.

* * *

Dudley felt terribly, terribly sick.

* * *

"I'm s-sorry! Pl-please come back! Please. . .

"You're the only friend I have. . ."

* * *

He felt jealousy at _him_. _He_ never had friends, never felt the feeling of the loss of those who cared. _He_ wasn't smothered in attention and had _his_ very own life full of wonder and amazement. _He_ could have things Dudley never could. Do things the boy can never do. Harry didn't deserve any of it. Not in a million years.

Why was life so unfair! Why couldn't they come back, why did they have to leave him alone! I'll be a good boy, I promise! I won't complain again, I swear I'll eat all my vegetables and listen to the grown-ups! I'll have good grades and won't fight the teachers! Just give me back my friend!

They didn't come back for a long, long time.

* * *

Dudley huddled under the withering tree. The wind harshly pushed him around with a howling scream and angered fury. He wished he could bottle it all up and use it to find his friend.

* * *

"Hey-o."

They returned after _six_ _whole months_. Their grin didn't quite go past their mask, like it usually did. Dudley didn't care. All it mattered was that his friend was back. He blubbered uselessly at them, big fat tears and snot rolling down his face.

"I'm so sorry! I should have never said those things to you! Don't leave me again, I don't want to be alone!"

Their grin widened with disbelief as he threw his arms around them, hanging on to his friend like a lifeline.

"Only if you don't leave me. Promise?"

"Promise." Dudley hiccups.

He didn't notice the thin white wire.

* * *

**NOW**

His friend skips merrily next to Dudley, hands clasped behind their back and whistling a merry tune. They jump and skip over puddles like a graceful bird in dance with a fancy twirl, arms outstretched to the sky. Their fingers seem to tickle the clouds and greet the rising sun.

"Look, look!" They exclaim, "It's so pretty!"

A grey cat hisses at the approaching two, teeth bared and fur raised. This did nothing to deter his friend. Instead they laughed and stopped their dance in front of the animal, head cocked to one side and easy grin spreading across their face. His friend drops down on their haunches and wiggle their fingers at the cat. It hisses once more and disappears around the corner.

* * *

"What do ya think will happen when you die?"

Dudley shrugs.

"Dunno. Maybe i'll go to Heaven, like dad says."

"Sure, but what do_ you _think?"

"I'd go to Hell."

His friend props themselves up on a elbow, invisible eyes peering quizzingly at him through their blank black mask. Their silence prompts him to continue.

"Dad says our crimes add up and we'll eventually be judged for all our sins. I would have thousands of wrongdoings pitted against me then."

"Oh."

"What about you?"

"I can't die, stupid!" They laugh.

Dudley's afternoon is filled with blue skies and green grass, his worries washed away. His friend would never do anything to hurt him.

. . .

Right?

* * *

"We shouldn't be doing this!"

They grin at him, wagging their finger at Dudley with a air of mischief.

"Don't be such a chicken, Dud's!"

"This is illegal!"

"You're illegal!"

He huffs. But he lets his friend lead him past the fence. Over the chain-link fence and into the deep dark.

* * *

Dudley walks through the graveyard, his friend's hand in his, tugging him past the gravestones and past the mounds of dirt. He stops in front of one, despite their protests.

_Reese Fantasma_

_1963 -1975_

**This just kinda popped in my head. Dunno if I want to continue this or not.**


End file.
